


Tigger Holmes and the Case of the Glass Slipper

by Small_Hobbit



Series: The Casebook of Tigger Holmes [12]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Winnie-the-Pooh - A. A. Milne
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-14 01:53:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18043214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: Prince Eadwig has come to ask Tigger Holmes for his help in tracking the owner of a glass slipper.  But Tigger suspects this is not quite the traditional fairy tale.





	Tigger Holmes and the Case of the Glass Slipper

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ/DW's WhatIf AU's "Fairy Tales" challenge.
> 
> There are slight references to matters of a more adult nature than a traditional fairy tale.

“Are you,” the fair young man asked, “the celebrated Mr Holmes?”

“Yes,” Tigger replied, “I am Tigger Holmes.”

“I am Prince Eadwig,” the prince announced.  He looked as if he expected Tigger to recognise him.  Tigger looked blankly at him.  “Son of King Quintus.” 

“Is your brother the Knave of Hearts?” Tigger asked.  He was starting to work out who the prince might be.

“No, he’s my cousin,” the prince said scornfully.  “His father is King Quartus.”

“Right,” said Tigger, who was rapidly losing patience with the stuck-up prince.  “I presume King Septimus sent you.”

“Indeed!  I need you to find the owner of this.”  Prince Eadwig produced a glass slipper.  “It belongs to the most beautiful girl in the world.  I intend to make her my wife.”

“I see,” said Tigger.  “Have you tried asking?”

“I have been everywhere and asked everyone.  I suspect my bride is being hidden from me.”

“Ah.  And you’d like me to come and find her.”

“Precisely.  I need you to come at once.”

“Has it occurred to you the lady in question might not want to marry you?”

“What a ridiculous idea.  She is waiting for me to free her from her bondage.”

Tigger had a quick vision of the sort of bondage he and Rabbit indulged in, but rapidly returned to the current problem.

“Why are we waiting?” Prince Eadwig asked.  “We need to leave now.”

“I have to collect my companion first.”

“No time!”

Tigger looked firmly at the prince.  “Holmes does not go without his Watson.”

For once Tigger knew both Pooh and Eeyore were available to take the role of Watson, and although Pooh was nearby, he decided Eeyore would be the more appropriate of the two.  He led the prince to Eeyore’s thistle patch, deliberately going the long way round, so the prince got rather scratched on the way.

“Eeyore!” Tigger said, when they found him, “we have a case.  This is Prince Eadwig and he’s looking for his lost bride.”

“I’m not fond of earwigs,” Eeyore said.

The prince looked thunderous, and Tigger said, “Not earwigs, Eadwig.”

“Oh,” said Eeyore.  “I wasn’t far off.”

The prince beckoned to his coachman, who brought the carriage as close to the thistle patch as the horses would go.

“Closer, man!” Prince Eadwig ordered.

“I don’t want my thistles trampled, thank you,” Eeyore said sternly.

“Of course not, sir,” the coachman said cheerfully.  “We’ll wait here for you.”

They made their way over to the coach, and once inside the prince looked angrily at the ladders in his silk stockings.

“You should have taken your stockings off before walking through a thistle patch,” Eeyore said.

When they arrived at their destination, Prince Eadwig leapt out of the carriage and went to speak to a man who clearly had been waiting for him.

Once the prince had gone, Tigger said to Eeyore, “It seems clear to me that the lady in question has no wish to marry the prince, which doesn’t surprise me in the least.  Would you marry him?”

“Do you think he’d have me?” Eeyore asked.

“Probably not,” admitted Tigger.

“Shame.  I rather think a crown would suit me.”

“The bowler hat suits you better,” Tigger said.

They both climbed out of the carriage, to be greeted by Prince Eadwig saying, “We’ve found her.  Her wicked stepmother has been hiding her away.”

“I think it would be wise if I came too,” Tigger said.  “Just to be sure they’re not trying to trick you.”

“Yes, that might be sensible,” the prince agreed.  “Everyone wants to be my bride.”

Eeyore snorted, but Tigger coughed loudly to cover the sound.

The prince led the way to a townhouse.  He considered going up the steps to the front door, but rather reluctantly took the ones down to the basement.  He knocked on the door, which was opened by a pretty young lady.

“Out of the way,” Prince Eadwig exclaimed.  He strode into the kitchen.  “Where is she?  Where have you hidden her?”

The young man who had spoken to the prince on his return stopped to speak to the lady who opened the door, but Tigger and Eeyore followed the prince into the kitchen.

“My name is Holmes,” Tigger said to an older lady, who was standing beside the kitchen table.  “Could I have a word with you in private?”

The lady looked surprised but nodded.  “Come this way,” she said.

The prince was about to follow them, when Eeyore called, “Prince Earwig!”

The prince turned round, “That’s not my name!”

Hurriedly Tigger and the lady, slipped out of view. 

Tigger said, “I suspect, madam, that your stepdaughter does not wish to marry the prince, and that you are indeed hiding her, but with her full agreement.”

“You’re quite right,” the stepmother replied.  “But what am I going to do?”

“Do either of your own daughters want to marry him?”

“Jane’s sweet on the baker’s son …”

“She’s the, err, …”

“The one who looks like she’s going out with a baker, yes.  I’m not aware of Linda having anyone in mind, but, well …”

“The prince leaves a lot to be desired.  Don’t worry, I have an idea.”

They returned to the kitchen, to find the prince fuming, Jane and Eeyore eating iced buns, and Linda and the prince’s companion nowhere to be seen.

“Well?” Prince Eadwig snapped.

“It would appear that the object of your passionate desire, being of an ephemeral nature, has been caught up by a zephyr, and transported to the west,” Tigger said.

“Then I must follow her,” the prince exclaimed.  He rushed outside and could be heard shouting for his coachman, who finally appeared.

“It might be as well if your stepdaughter were to give the prince half an hour and then head in an easterly direction,” Tigger said.

“Ooh, we could hire a cottage at the seaside,” the stepmother said.  “I’ll go and let her know.”

She departed and shortly afterwards returned, accompanied by a rather scarlet-faced young man, who Tigger recognised as the prince’s companion.

“Excellent,” the stepmother said.  “That’s all sorted.  The girls are packing, and Jack here, who I have just ejected from Linda’s bedroom because we haven’t got time for that sort of thing at the moment, will drop you home before coming back to take us to the seaside.”

“I’m delighted to have been of service,” Tigger said.

Jack fetched another carriage and drove Tigger and Eeyore to the Hundred Acre Wood.

“What exactly did you say to Prince Earwig?” Eeyore asked.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Tigger replied, “and I’m certain he hasn’t a clue, but it got rid of him.”

“I suppose the stepdaughter is happy with this arrangement?”

“Oh yes, her stepmother gave me this note as we left.”  Tigger passed the note to Eeyore.

_Thank you very much, Mr Holmes, for your assistance.  I had absolutely no wish to marry the prat but rejecting him would have made things difficult for my father, who is the senior partner in the law firm who have responsibility for King Quintus’ affairs.  Fortunately, by the time I take over the family law firm, Prince Eadwig will have long forgotten his temporary obsession with me._

 


End file.
